Abdelaziz Bouteflika

Algeria's president, an ally in the U.S. campaign against terrorism, overwhelmingly won reelection in a vote that his rival said was a sham. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was elected to a second term with 83% of Thursday's vote, the Interior Ministry said. Former Prime Minister Ali Benflis was a distant second with 8%. He alleged irregularities "in thousands of polling stations" and vowed to appeal to the panel that validates results.

Algeria's president, an ally in the U.S. campaign against terrorism, overwhelmingly won reelection in a vote that his rival said was a sham. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was elected to a second term with 83% of Thursday's vote, the Interior Ministry said. Former Prime Minister Ali Benflis was a distant second with 8%. He alleged irregularities "in thousands of polling stations" and vowed to appeal to the panel that validates results.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika was sworn in as Algeria's new president, despite the protests of six rival candidates who withdrew from the election because of alleged voting fraud. Bouteflika, 63, promised to focus on ending Algeria's 7-year-old Islamic insurgency, which has left 75,000 people dead and led to international isolation. In a ceremony at the seaside Palais des Nations west of the capital, Algiers, Bouteflika also promised to fight corruption and work to develop the economy.

The president who led this blood-soaked nation through the waning years of an Islamist uprising appeared poised to win a second term Thursday in an election that was seen as a test of Algeria's democratic leanings. In a land where elections are often tangled with the threat of violence, the voting went off without widespread rioting, bombing or battles.

The president who led this blood-soaked nation through the waning years of an Islamist uprising appeared poised to win a second term Thursday in an election that was seen as a test of Algeria's democratic leanings. In a land where elections are often tangled with the threat of violence, the voting went off without widespread rioting, bombing or battles.

At a time when Algeria's authoritarian government is under fire for failing to make progress on reform, President Bush today launches a policy initiative to expand U.S. diplomatic and business ties with the oil-rich North African nation by welcoming its president to the White House. The overture signals a shift in foreign policy priorities to business and investment opportunities over human rights and democracy issues, some U.S. analysts charge.

A suicide bomber killed 15 people in the Algerian town of Batna, shortly before a scheduled visit by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, state television reported. Bouteflika, who later visited some of the 74 wounded in a hospital, blamed Islamist rebels. Residents said that the bomb was detonated among a crowd waiting to see the president arrive. "Terrorist acts have absolutely nothing in common with the noble values of Islam," Bouteflika was quoted as saying.

Algerian security force members were responsible for the abduction and disappearances of 6,146 civilians during a decade-long struggle with Islamic rebels, a government-appointed commission concluded. The civilians are presumed killed. Farouk Ksentini, appointed by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to conduct the investigation, said the forces had acted on their own, not on orders of the state.

A prominent leader of Algeria's outlawed Islamic Salvation Front who opposed the government but had spoken out for peace and reconciliation was slain as he was leaving a dental clinic in Algiers. Abdelkader Hachani, 43, was shot twice in the head and once in the chest by an unknown assailant, according to news service reports and a statement on state-run radio.

Leaders from more than 50 Muslim countries promised to fight extremist ideology, saying they would reform textbooks, restrict religious edicts and crack down on terrorism financing. Kings, heads of states and ministers closed a two-day summit in Islam's holiest city, Mecca. The Organization of the Islamic Conference nations also said that fatwas must only be issued by "those who are authorized," an effort to curb edicts by clerics who denounce other Muslims and allow their killing.

At a time when Algeria's authoritarian government is under fire for failing to make progress on reform, President Bush today launches a policy initiative to expand U.S. diplomatic and business ties with the oil-rich North African nation by welcoming its president to the White House. The overture signals a shift in foreign policy priorities to business and investment opportunities over human rights and democracy issues, some U.S. analysts charge.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika was sworn in as Algeria's new president, despite the protests of six rival candidates who withdrew from the election because of alleged voting fraud. Bouteflika, 63, promised to focus on ending Algeria's 7-year-old Islamic insurgency, which has left 75,000 people dead and led to international isolation. In a ceremony at the seaside Palais des Nations west of the capital, Algiers, Bouteflika also promised to fight corruption and work to develop the economy.

Prisons began releasing thousands of Muslim militants under a mass Algerian Independence Day pardon issued by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in his drive to end seven years of bloodshed. Appealing on television for support, Bouteflika told Algerians: "It is time for the people to intervene directly, to impose the solution they long for. I need popular support to sustain my efforts to resolve the crisis."

Independent Algerian newspapers hit back at a government-sponsored barrage of sermons by clerics who accused the papers of betraying Islam and urged a boycott of the press. "Hateful preachings were made yesterday against the independent press, and particularly against our daily, Liberte," one national paper said.